US Accused of Protecting Cuban Militant

The US is protecting the "Osama bin Laden of Latin America", the Venezuelan president said today.

Hugo Chavez made his remarks after a US judge ruled against deporting a Cuban militant who blew up a passenger jet in 1976.

Luis Posada Carriles - who is wanted in Venezuela for the bombing - this week told an extradition hearing that he faced torture if he was returned to the country.

An immigration judge in El Paso, Texas, upheld the claims, ruling that 77-year-old Mr Carriles could not be extradited.

Mr Chavez said the decision not to extradite Mr Carriles allowed the Bush administration to protect one of Latin America's most notorious terrorists.

"The United States is protecting the Osama bin Laden of Latin America," he said, accusing the US president, George Bush, of "double standards" in the fight against terror.

Earlier this month, Mr Bush told a UN summit that "terrorists must know that, wherever they go, they cannot escape justice".

Mr Carriles, a Cuban who also holds Venezuelan citizenship, is accused of masterminding the bombing of the Cuban passenger jet in 1976. He has denied any involvement in the attack, but has admitted to working against the Cuban president, Fidel Castro.

All 73 people on board the Cubana Airlines plane were killed when it exploded after takeoff from Barbados.

Mr Carriles escaped from a Venezuelan prison in 1985 while awaiting retrial after a military court acquitted him of the bombing. He has worked as CIA operative, and was in the US military for a year during the early 80s.

In May, he was arrested in Miami for being in the US illegally. The Venezuelan authorities then asked for his extradition to stand trial for the bombing.

Mr Carriles says he could not return to Venezuela because he would be tortured, and also alleges that Mr Castro attempted to have him assassinated in 1990 because of his former position in the Venezuelan security forces.

Venezuela has always denied that Mr Carriles would be tortured if he was returned. The country's constitution prohibits torture, and Venezuelan officials insist his rights would be respected.